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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28191810">A vet, a pixie, and a fox spirit walk into a bar (this is all true apart from the part about the bar)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneatatime/pseuds/oneatatime'>oneatatime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kamen Rider Ex-Aid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Hiiro is a vet, Very AU, a lonely vet, visited by two mischievous types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:15:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,694</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28191810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneatatime/pseuds/oneatatime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm taking the next three days off," he told the mirror, and promptly screamed when the mirror answered back.</p><p>"How come?"</p><p>Okay, so it wasn't the actual mirror. It was the cute black-haired guy inside the-</p><p>Inside the m-</p><p>InSIDE the MIRROR there was a black-haired guy INSIDE HIS FREAKING MIRROR and so Hiiro decided to tell him, "I think I'm having a panic attack!"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Houjou Emu/Kagami Hiiro/Kujou Kiriya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Another Toku Holiday Special (2020)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A vet, a pixie, and a fox spirit walk into a bar (this is all true apart from the part about the bar)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/gifts">ozuttly</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You haven't eaten breakfast again," observed the voice from the counter. </p><p>Hiiro jumped, in spite of himself. He had too much to do today! There was a cat with kidney trouble at 9.00, office hours from 10.00 to 2.00 to see any walk-in patients, he had a house call at 2.30 out at Asuna-san's farm to attend to his pregnant, very uncomfortable cow, he had various administrative work that needed doing, there was preparation for tomorrow's surgery on Taiga-san's rabbit, and it was all swirling around his head where he was trying to get it into some kind of <i>order.</i></p><p>He didn't have time to deal with his hallucinations again!</p><p>But he groaned, and practically ran out the door - after taking a low sugar, high protein bar from the bowl that had recently appeared next to his sink. There were too many options with too little nutrition, and this one was the best option. (The bowl was his father's fault, possibly? The colours certainly weren't what Hiiro would choose for himself. All bright pinks and greens, in stark contrast to the much more soothing and sterile whites and metals of his kitchen.)</p><p>It wasn't a crime to want to get to the clinic early! He had work to do! </p><p>***</p><p>When he came home, it was already after 8.00. He sighed, dropping his keys onto the table next to the front door with his eyes closed (his accuracy was always phenomenal) and dropping himself onto the couch. He let his head fall back, and he groaned at the ceiling. </p><p>Then he made himself get up, find his shirt and labcoat for the next day, and iron them. He didn't even burn himself, even though he was operating on autopilot and nearly put the iron away in the fridge. </p><p>He did a double take as he walked out of the kitchen. That couldn't be butt prints on his counter, right? </p><p>***</p><p>
  <i>*Why him? </i>
</p><p>
  <i>-Why not?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>*...Emu. Seriously. Why him?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>-He's kind of cute, and he put a bowl of bread and milk out three nights ago. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>*You HATE milk. You normally help kids, and he's not a kid, and I can feel what you're thinking about him. And he was muttering under his breath about stupid rituals his dad makes him do for creatures that don't exist!</i>
</p><p>
  <i>-He still followed the rules. Asking for help means you should get help, right? And maybe I want to be near him, but I don't want to do anything else, not without his consent! Or, oh, no, are you - are you jealous?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>*[warmth] No. You can do what you like. I just think you can do better.</i>
</p><p>***</p><p>Taiga-san's rabbit nearly died. Kagami Hiiro, the master surgeon, made a stupid mistake and clamped the wrong artery. Taiga-san was surprisingly gentle about it, and it was his friend, the girl who wanted to be a vet intern, who was far more pissed. He deserved more than that from both of them. He shouldn't make stupid mistakes like that! </p><p>He stumbled home wracked with guilt. </p><p>"I'm taking the next three days off," he told the mirror, and promptly screamed when the mirror answered back.</p><p>"How come?"</p><p>Okay, so it wasn't the actual mirror. It was the cute black-haired guy inside the-</p><p>Inside the m-</p><p>InSIDE the MIRROR there was a black-haired guy INSIDE HIS FREAKING <i>MIRROR</i> and so Hiiro decided to tell him, "I think I'm having a panic attack!" </p><p>The mirror made a <i>glorp</i> sound - when had his mirror started making sounds like that - and then there was a warm arm around his shoulders, steering him over to his couch. </p><p>"Breathe, Hiiro-san. Not too fast, not too slow. Just breathe normally, like this." </p><p>He leaned against the black-haired guy who was sitting on his couch with him, because just at that moment he didn't have many other options. What else was he supposed to do? He knew a little about panic attacks, as he'd spent some time dutifully studying various reactions that his human customers might have to problems with their animals. He always kept his first aid accreditation current. </p><p>He wasn't a doctor for humans. But he knew that for most people, a panic attack meant you needed to breathe properly, and focus on one thing, and ride it out. There was no point trying to push through the dizziness or the, well, panic, until the worst of it was over.</p><p>
  <span class="small">This black-haired guy smelled great. Like wildflowers. Like trees. Like honey.</span>
</p><p>About an hour later, he found himself spilling the rest of the story to the guy curled up on the corner of his spotlessly white couch. It wasn't white, not really, but his father kept making sad faces when he insisted on calling things in his apartment by their proper names. 'Eggshell' couch did sound rather more pretentious, he had to admit. </p><p>Anyway.</p><p>"I should've known the cephalic vein was compromised," he said again, insistent, waiting for this Emu to shake his head at him, to run, to denounce him. To do anything, in fact, beyond sitting there and looking both absorbed and sympathetic. </p><p>"You adjusted and fixed it?" </p><p>Hiiro nodded, very reluctantly. That made it sound far too okay. "But Mr Bunbun could have died."</p><p>"Always a risk with surgery."</p><p>Hiiro blinked at him, and went to put on the kettle. Tea. Tea would make things make sense.  </p><p>It wasn't that he thought that Emu was right, and that he no longer felt guilty, and that he no longer felt that he'd made a mistake. It was just....... another viewpoint. Hiiro knew he tended to see things in terms of black and white, right and wrong, and if he hadn't done something perfectly, then that meant he'd made mistakes and must atone, yes? Must work harder, must study more, must apologise over and over but not just with words, with actions and a renewed dedication to <i>be better</i>, right? </p><p>His father had made comments like that before, and had tried to today before Hiiro had left, stammering apologies. </p><p>It wasn't that he now knew that he didn't need to feel bad. It was more like... seeing that there was more than one story. More than one way to tell the day's events. </p><p>***</p><p>Emu stuck around for the next few days. He was incredibly easy to talk to, especially for someone who was entirely hallucinatory. He offered observations, he responded to gentle, polite comments about his own life (Hiiro didn't want to ask anything intrusive! That would be rude! Even to, uh, some kind of hallucination currently <i>living with him</i>). Emu even got Hiiro to watch a little television with him, and while 'Strawberry Promises' was decidedly frivolous, Hiiro had to admit that he'd had tears in his eyes when the two leads had finally held hands.</p><p>"I imagine you'll be leaving soon," Hiiro said one morning, over coffee. </p><p>Emu was cross legged on a dining room chair. He said through a mouthful of crumbs, "Eh? I can, if you want me to?" </p><p>Hiiro shook his head shyly. </p><p>"I'm feeling better, so I assume I won't have hallucinations any more...?"</p><p>The gentlest laugh. "No, we can visit whoever we want to. Besides, it's part of the pact. You put out bread and milk, I answered."</p><p>Hiiro's knife paused as he spread honey on his toast. He hadn't had honey on toast since he was a child, but Emu loved it, and so he'd started buying it. "You're-"</p><p>"A pixie, yes. You're not imagining me." </p><p>Big, dark eyes watching his. He wasn't joking. Emu could be light and sweet, and playful, but he didn't tease. He was never cruel. Never tried to catch Hiiro out. </p><p>Hiiro said softly, "I believe you." </p><p>"Good! Here, you need something to follow that."</p><p>There was a shimmer as Emu reached up into the air. His hand came back holding a plate of cake. Hiiro stared at it. He couldn't not believe this. Not when his father believed, and not when Emu had done so many other little things that couldn't be explained other ways.</p><p>It was two slices. Vanilla sponge, with fresh cream and strawberries in the centre, topped with strawberries and some kind of pink frosting. It smelled <i>divine.</i> </p><p>...then it disappeared.</p><p>"Uh-uh!" said a cheerful voice. Hiiro nearly fell off his chair twisting, trying to see. </p><p>"Kiriya-san!" </p><p>The cake shimmered back into existence, along with a hand, an arm, and the rest of a brightly-coloured person who had pointed fox ears. A bushy tail protruded from his short, blue pants. He gave Hiiro a mischievous look. </p><p>"You want this, AND Emu?" </p><p>Hiiro found himself scrambling to his feet and getting in between the two of them. He didn't know who this was, but he knew Emu! And he could do magic as well! He wasn't going to try to throw him out of his apartment, not when he didn't know how powerful this fox-person might be, and not when he thought of vaguely-recalled stories from his father when he'd been a child. You couldn't be impolite to the fey, not without great risk. </p><p>But he didn't want to just give Emu to him. Not when there'd been some definite frustration in Emu's voice then. Well, he thought conscientiously to himself, Emu wasn't Hiiro's, he didn't own Emu, but he didn't want to just say it was okay to turn up uninvited in Hiiro's place and then be mean to Emu.</p><p>Not. Hm. There'd been frustration. Not distress, though. Not really. </p><p>Maybe this wasn't so bad. Maybe Kiriya wasn't too terrifying.</p><p>He stayed where he was, though, with his drippy butterknife held in a wobbly grip at his side. </p><p>"Kiriya-san," Emu said again, but there was more fondness and more of a sigh in his voice now.</p><p>This Kiriya's eyes gentled. "You're willing to protect him....... okay. I'm gonna stick around for a while. See how things go. Maybe I like you, Hiiro. Just a little." </p><p>And that was the beginning of Hiiro's life with not one, but two friends-and-occasionally-more. He'd never had two friends before. Not at the same time. </p><p>He'd never been happier in his life.</p>
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